On TheOneRing.net, Calisuri shares a TV program he recently ran across: an episode of the Discovery Channels series, “How It’s Made” that includes a brief segment on pinball machines. The machine being made is a Lord of the Rings game.

In my book, I didn’t talk about the pinball machine (made by Stern) licensed by New Line Cinema (and Saul Zaentz) because I just couldn’t cover all the tie-in products. I discussed a few games and collectibles, but I concentrated on the new, highly lucrative digital products, the DVDs and videogames. The pinball game was definitely part of the franchise, though. Machines used to come up regularly on eBay, selling for a bit under $5000. The ultimate Rings collectible, I guess, or at least a candidate for that title. It’s presumably still available, since Stern has a webpage on it.

I’ve never seen a Rings pinball machine “in person,” but the images I’ve seen make it look quite beautiful. I did buy the “translite” for the machine (shown above). Also known as the “backglass,” that’s the vertical backlit image with the name of the game that faces you when you’re playing. The painting features a group of the main characters from The Fellowship of the Ring, but it’s not one of the standard poster images. The picture is based on publicity photos of the various characters, but the layout is distinctive, with the Eye of Sauron adding a bold patch of color at the top of an image dominated by subdued hues. I like it, though I still haven’t figured out how to display it. (For a larger image, see Stern’s website.) The translites do still get posted regularly on eBay, as do other spare parts and update kits.

Anyway, the “How It’s Made” segment is online here. I’m not sure whether that link will last; perhaps as the piece ages the clip will cycle off that page. Even if that happens, you should be able to find it by searching “how it’s made pinball.” It’s a bit under three minutes long.